Chemical Kids
Referred to by scientists as "biomonitoring", and "body burden testing" by environmentalists, a new technology for testing flame retardants in our body known as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), has been developed. Less than ten years old, it is still an unheard of procedure to most Americans. However environmentalists and public health experts warn that it is worth investigating when the industrial chemicals we are exposed to each day are accumulating in our bodies and significantly endangering our health.
According to Dr. Leo Trasande, assistant director of the Center for Children`s Health and the Environment at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, "We are in an epidemic of environmentally mediated disease among American children today." He explains that the industrial toxins we come in contact with each day, such as plastic bottles, kitchenware, and cosmetics, could be cause for the dramatic increase in childhood diseases and disorders, and further develop into adult problems such as infertility.
Chemical manufacturers are not required by the Environmental Protection Agency to conduct human toxicity studies before approving their products for public use. Although such studies would not reveal the subtle health problems such as those that have been seen in the technology experiments, the EPA is now considering authorizing additional testing among major chemical manufacturers. Meanwhile, after witnessing the alarming signs of animal studies, PBDEs have been banned in Sweden and all of Europe.
The Hammond family was the first to undergo body burden testing in the United States. 1 1/2 year old, Rowan, was tested for nuclear exposure and found to have exposure levels seven times that of his parents. His mother protested "I`m angry at my government for failing to regulate chemicals that are in mass production and in consumer products. I don`t think it should have to be up to me to worry about what's in my couch."
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